UN warns of ‘catastrophe’ in Aleppo

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday of an unprecedented “humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s Aleppo and urged Russia and the United States to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country.

Fighting for control of Aleppo, split between its government-held west and rebel-held eastern neighborhoods, has intensified in recent weeks causing hundreds of deaths and depriving many civilians of power, water and vital supplies.

“In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the over five years of bloodshed and suffering in the Syrian conflict,” Ban told the UN Security Council in his latest monthly report on aid access, seen by Reuters.

Aleppo is one of the bastions of the rebellion to oust Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, whose army is backed on the ground by Shiite  militias from neighboring countries and from the skies by Russian air strikes.

“The fight for territory and resources is being undertaken through indiscriminate attacks on residential areas, including through the use of barrel bombs, killing hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children,” Ban said in the UN report.

“All parties to the conflict are failing to uphold their obligation to protect civilians,” he said.

Ban reiterated a UN call for at least a 48-hour humanitarian pause in fighting in Aleppo for aid deliveries and also pushed Moscow and Washington to rapidly reach a deal on a ceasefire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday discussed securing a ceasefire, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes against Syrian militants for the first time on Tuesday.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it takes great care to avoid civilian casualties in its air strikes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said heavy air strikes on Tuesday had hit many targets in and around Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria, killing dozens.

The United States had been targeting Daesh militants in Syria with air strikes for nearly two years.

Meanwhile, state media reported on Wednesday that rebel shelling in Syria’s battered northern city of Aleppo killed 12 people including a child.

State television announced “12 martyrs including a child and several wounded after terrorists shelled the Salaheddin” district in the city’s regime-controlled west.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 10 civilians including a child had been killed in the rebel shelling.

Since mid-2012, Aleppo has been roughly split between opposition control in the east and government forces in the west.

A media correspondent in the city’s east said regime warplanes pounded rebel-held districts on Wednesday.

The bombardment came as regime forces fight rebels and jihadists southwest of the battleground city after opposition fighters gained ground there earlier this month, the Observatory said.

There was heavy fighting around the Ramussa area and a nearby military academy on Wednesday, the Britain-based monitor said.

Fighting for Syria’s former economic hub has intensified since regime troops seized control of the last supply route into rebel-held areas in mid-July.

After a nearly three-week siege, rebels took Ramussa on Aug.6, linking up with opposition-held neighbourhoods, in a major blow to fighters loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad. The Army of Conquest — an alliance of rebel, hardline and extremist forces — then announced an ambitious bid to capture all of Aleppo, which if successful would be the biggest opposition victory yet in Syria’s conflict.